I made these adorable little cactus gals from Gleeful Things' free pattern. They were too cute not to make! I bought 2" mini terracotta pots from Michaels and painted them with outdoor paint, which was conveniently right next to the pots! I filled the pots with small filler stones as suggested by Julie to add some weight to the pots. Julie has a crochet pot in the pattern as well in case you don't want to use the terracotta pots.

One thing I would recommend when working the single crochet 2 together is to make them "invisible." Insert hook into the front loop only of the stitch, then insert hook into the front loop of the next stitch. Yarn over, pull through 1 loop on the hook, yarn over, pull through both loops on hook. It makes amigurumi projects like this much cleaner looking.

You can get so creative with these little cacti with color combinations. I saw one project where they turned the cactus into a pin cushion so it looked like a spiked cactus! These work up really quickly and would make great gifts. Check out the pattern!